But save for a vintage few minutes in a win over Nigeria during pool play, his time here for the Olympics had been more about his presence away from the court than it had been on his in-game exploits with the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team.

He popped in at Wimbledon to see some tennis, strode over to the beach volleyball venue to see friends get after it and he even made it to the velodrome Tuesday night to cheer on fellow athletes chasing gold in their respective disciplines.

It wasn’t until the second half Wednesday night, with Australia making a run against the U.S. in a quarterfinal matchup at North Greenwich Arena, that the Bryant Los Angeles Lakers and NBA fans have known for the better part of the past decade made his debut in this competition.

His six straight 3-pointers, a staggering four in 75 seconds during a backbreaking fourth-quarter run, proved to be the sparked needed to push the U.S. past Australia 119-86 and into a Friday night semifinal rematch with rival Argentina, an 82-77 winner over Brazil in the first game of the evening session.

“We we were right there with them,” said Australian forward David Andersen. “And then Kobe starts shooting and making those [3-pointers] and it’s raining down on us. No team really has answers for that. ”

That’s been the case throughout this competition for the U.S., which has relied on the explosiveness of its biggest stars — LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and others — to pull away from the competition in every game.

James had what USA Basketball officials believed to be the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic history, finishing his night with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Durant had 14 points and made four of his nine shots from distance, while playing most of his 25 minutes in foul trouble. And Anthony scored his 17 points in just 20 minutes off the bench. Deron Williams added 18 points and Kevin Love 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Record-Setting Night for LeBron James

• 1st Triple-Double in U.S. Olympic History

• Passed Scottie Pippen for 1st on USAB All-Time Assists List (76)

• Passed Charles Barkley for 3rd on USAB All-Time Scoring List

Bryant, on the other hand, had been scoreless in the first half and was struggling through yet another uneven performance before sinking two free throws with 6:39 to play in the third quarter. He knocked down two 3-pointers before the end of the third to get revved up and then unearthed some vintage stuff in the fourth.

This from a future Hall of Famer who was averaging 9.8 points on 38 percent shooting coming into the knockout stage of the tournament.

“I was just kind of searching for something to get me going,” Bryant said after scoring all 20 of his points in about nine minutes and change. “I was searching for something to kind of activate the ‘Black Mamba’ as Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] calls it. I don’t know, I just needed something to get me going, something to give me that edge so I could ride it the rest of the game.”

Bryant needed a little push, one Anthony said he was more than happy to provide after watching the team’s elder statesman labor through yet another uncharacteristic effort. While he wouldn’t say exactly what he said, he was proud of the results.

“I was on him the whole game,” Anthony said. ” ‘Wake up, you look sleepy out there.’ I guess I woke the Mamba up. I kinda knew what buttons to push with him. I was talking to him at halftime and the third quarter and he woke up. I’ve been on the other side of the ball when he’s had situations like that before. He came back and you see the third quarter [and fourth quarter] he had. So he took it extremely well.”

When informed by one reporter that there were concerns back in the States about his play and if he believed this one performance would calm his critics, Bryant just laughed.

“Gosh, I hope not,” he said. “I hope not. Then where’s the fun?”

The real fun cranks up Friday night when the U.S. tussles with Argentina for the third time in less than three weeks. The winner of that game will face either Russia or Spain in the gold medal game Sunday, with the loser battling for a bronze medal the same day.

The U.S. beat Argentina 86-80 in Barcelona July 22 in an exhibition tune-up for this tournament, a game they led by as many as 20 points before a late Argentina rally closed the gap.

They stroked Argentina 126-97 Monday night in the final game of pool play for both teams, knowing full well that they could see them again in the semifinals if both teams prevailed Wednesday night.

“We’re ready for them and we’re excited about that matchup,” Anthony said. “To play them twice in less than a week, we’re ready for that matchup.”

Things got heated Monday night, with both Chris Paul and Argentina’s Facundo Campazzo throwing blows (or being accused of throwing blows) below the belt. Anthony was the recipient of Campazzo’s shot, as he drained a 3-pointer at the of a third-quarter blitz that blew the game open.

So he knows there will be some added intensity and physical play from both sides.

“You can’t prepare physically for a game like that,” he said. “You just have to go out there and be ready to take them punches … well, not literally. But we just said it in the huddle, we have to be prepared mentally. And we will be.”

This latest showdown will serve as the rubber match after the 2004 Olympic semifinal (won by Argentina on their way to gold) and the 2008 Olympic semifinal (won by the U.S. on their way to gold).

It’s a game that seemingly everyone has been looking forward to for a while now, but one you weren’t sure the Bryant NBA fans around the globe are used to seeing would be in attendance.

If his second-half work against Australia is any indication, he’ll be ready to go.

“I think any person who’s achieved the excellence he has, and there are only a few, they take responsibility for it” Krzyzewski said. “There are no excuses. He’s one of the top 10 players of all time, maybe one of the top five players of all time. He just keeps working … and you just have to stick with him. It’s produced five NBA championships and an Olympic gold medal for us.”

As superb a player as LeBron is, MIchael Jordan is the greatest player ever. End of story.

As for the Olympics, congrats to the Americans. You blokes could field a half dozen teams and each one of them would win Olympic gold, so the Olympics don’t really prove much. However, the skill level of NBA players (from which ever nation) is astonishing.

Congrats also to the Australian team for a gutsy effort. Special mention for Joe Ingles. Hopefully the NBA talent scouts will give him a trial somewhere, as he has the smarts to make it.

Because he wasnt the best all around player. He was one of the best players to ever touch a ball, but not best all around. Before you start pouting and spitting out nonsense, i will let you know why he wasnt the best all around player.. He handled the ball well on fast breaks, but not in half court settings. not to mention he was much slower than the guards. therefore, we could not run point guard. again, he was too slow to hang with guards offensively and defensively. This makes him a mediocre to below average shooting guard. However, his skill set and attributes made him the perfect forward. He did not have the strength to match up at the center position. If you are referring to “all-around” as offense only, then you are justified in saying that he had an “all-around offensive game”.

Kobe has 5 rings, which 3 of them were won because of Shaq daddy.
I always said, rings only count when its won with you being the reason your team won.
Robert Horry has more rings than Jordan, Lebron, Kobe and a whole lot more of great players, so is Horry better than them?
Using the number of rings to compare the greatness of a player is a joke.
to me, i believe even Kobe himself would say that he’ll give back the previous 3 rings just to win another one with him being the finals MVP as well. Thats what matter to competitor, win a championship with themselves being the best player, not 2nd or 3rd best.
conclusion, using MVP & Finals MVP trophies to compare the greatness of true elite player is definitely a better way than using the number of rings.

Kobe Bean Bryant was the 2nd best player on the Lakers when Shaq got the 3-peat. It’s like saying Gasol doesn’t deserve 2 rings because he had Kobe Bryant. Well, Pau was the 2nd best player on the team at that time.

I remember you said they would lose to LTU, then to Australia. I suspect you are a Spain fan because in reality your team lost on purpose to NOT meet the US. In fact, you may lose tomorrow to the Russians and go home without a medal like at the Worlds. Remember that tournament? It was the same tournament that the Greeks lost on purpose. To be the best , you have to play the best and until Spain does that, you will never be as good as the US.

Gentlemen, it’s quite simple…KOBE is top 5 all time…I just don’t see how you can argue results? Not only does his statistics justify this sentiment, but his durability/availability, he’s second to none playing injured AT A HIGH LEVEL, and he is arguably the most explosive player ever! His iq, footwork, and focus/concentration is unparalleled. He has never had a true point guard, and he has played with a lot of mediocre players, and was still very unstoppable! The players that were suppose to be good, we’re either GASOFT, old, or young, and immature in Bynum. The league clearly put him on the “bad list”, 1 league MVP in 16seasons, really? The only reason he has struggled on this Olympic team is, because like most people he wants to be liked, particularly with retirement in range. However, he didn’t lose in 2004, because he declined, but who was the leader in 2008? Exactly, KB24, and they all know it, LBJ, MELLO, wade, cp3, etc….Can any of you imagine how it would feel to have to tone down your game constantly, and not shoot at all the entire 1st Q, facilitate the ball, guard the toughest opponent 7-10 years your junior, and have a monster 4th quarter, and win the game, or game winning shot every time, and come through? 81 point night, multiple 50pt games back to back after sitting in court 90 minutes prior to tip off, refs disrespecting you due to politics, and you still perform better than all? How could one really LOVE the game speaking so foolishly…..

It’s nice to see the LBJ-MJ comparisons go away. They were two such radically different players I found it ridiculous. LBJ is a lot like a young Magic Johnson, it’s good to see him where he’s at right now. Kobe was more of a young MJ in terms of style, and KD is shaping up to be a more athletic version of Larry Bird.

I say we all start a petition right here and now, where everyone signs off and agrees that this lbj guy should be banned from posting comments…or banned from nba.com all together but I figure banned from posting is an easier mission for us all to accomplish. So cmon everyone, let’s see how many we can get hahahaha.

The Lbj troll strikes again. At least if that dude is going to make a fantasy lineup involving Howard on the Heat, they should at least put James at the point. We all know he is a better fit for the job as to me, he is the next Magic Johnson. Pretty much Magic and Pippen rolled into one guy. Much better PG than probably 90% of the league. Only players running a team as a PG other than James should be Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derek Rose, Tony Parker, and Steve Nash. James would be much better than Wade at the position and much better than any other player currently on the Heat, which is why he runs it 90% of the time! And to be honest, they do not even need Howard. They can run it just fine like this and still win rings:

PG James
SG Allen
SF Wade
PF Lewis
C Bosh

Reserves – Battier, Haslem, Anthony, Chalmers etc

As for the Olympic team, Durant to me is the teams MVP. He has been going crazy in London. Shooting balls from Paris as I heard on NBA TV the other day! HAHA!! With Lebrons triple double last game, he is making a good case for it also. I’d say Chris Paul is in there somewhere also, that man is killing people with his cross overs, defense and downtown shooting. Can not wait to see the rest of the games. Been awesome to watch some of the surprises that come up during the Olympics this year. Westbrook is my hero for that slam he had on Argentina a few days ago!

I am American and I am excited to hopefully see the US win a gold in this years’ olympics, but I must say I am getting tired of all the arrogance on this blog. Every comment is, “America will win for sure, no doubt we will smash all the competition!” The olympics are supposed to be about the world coming together in peace and competing against each other at the top level. It is awesome to me, that even though there is so much conflict in the world we can have an event such as the olympics, where people come from all over the world and have a good time together competing. We should not be so quick in saying, “America will cream everyone else!!!” There are good teams from other countries as well and they are here to compete just as we are. So I am looking forward to rooting for the United States but, I am not going to be so arrogant as to say we will win no matter what.

I want to see us win by 100, Let every US player get 16 points…. But anyways back to the all time top five players. (taking care of your body is a big part of sports on and off the court), that’s why Magic isn’t better than Jordan. In this order: 1st Me, 2nd my shadow, 3rd my right hand, 4th my right leg, 5th my left leg. 6-10 would be LBJ, MJ, Kobe, Magic and me again.
I think magic would say kobe is better than him, and kobe would say Jordan is better than him. But James wouldn’t say Jordan is better, he’ll just say I play the game the way i my play and jordan will say he’s jordan.

Celtics Fans, Stop hatin on Lebron Tkln about Rondo, Rondo is a speck compared to the arsenal LBJ has… keep Hattin Rin g next year and after that too. If Rondos s o great where is he? Why didint he lead his team to a Championship? umm.. hmm.. head turner?

In the issue of Kobe being the top 10 or 20, I think he is an excellent player. However, you need to compare him to the greatest, because for sure, he is one of them. In my era (1980-now) he is ranked (Jordan, Kareem, Shaquille, Magic, LeBaron, Karl Melon, Bird, Kobe) 8th, and considering the whole era, he can move down to top 20. LeBaron is now the third and he is moving up fast. I am from Canada and this is very unbiased opinion.

This article was terrible. How about a game recap with some actual information. This was a ‘hoorah’ for the individuals, not in any way indicative of how close the game was at times. As a fellow journalist, I found it very unenlightening. All I can take away from it is some statistics and frankly, nothing else.

the day that european league teams start to pay as much as nba teams do, it will be the end of usa domination in basketball! For now, it is professionals against teams with some pros and others guys, and there are even teams with none professional at all!

LPC
You said LB is better than Kobe because he make his team better. Why did he leave Cleveland, shouldn’t he have made them better. No, he left his team and joined forces with other top caliber players that didn’t need him to be good. So that dispells the notion that he make his team better. He had to join a better team to win a championship.Sorry LB lover, he ran from his team, something Jordan nor Kobe did. Everyone says that Jordan is the best player of all times, he didn’t make his team better, he was just better than everyone else. Now Kobe is the best player, he didn’t ran. He stayed and won.

Of course Team USA will win gold. This sport is very popular in the US with its 310m people living in there. So guess which country has the most professional players and the best league on the planet…. Anything else than the gold medal won with a big margin would be a shame. Get it? OK, go and take it!

TD by Lebron! Hail to the King! Just pay the game and cut the BS and you’ll remain the King. If Argentina s able to slow down the pace, thn it has a chance thiugh slim! But game to watch would be US v. Russia! Paybak tiime for the US re ’72

its gonna be a tight game dont be crazy, u still sad about the 2004 semis we r the only team who win a usa team whit nba players and we can repeat that if durant is not “on fire” let ur ego away and addmit then argentina its gonna be a hard team to win, top 3 since 2002, gold in 2004, bronze 2008, argentina team play for glory everytime..

Campazzo elbowed Anthony everybody saw it, and AT THE SAME GAME Paul elbowed Campazzo, both are FACTS. Take a little time and watch those particular plays and think again about your article. you choose to highlight the second play in the first place, with all due respect that is biased, both should have been punished. Greetings from Argentina

yeah yeah at the end of their careers, LeBron would absolutely have a better one than him as a player. I know many would argue again that the better player has more championships. well that is to say the better team, including the coach, the organization. But to say the least Lebron’s game is way better than Kobe. I would rather have the best player who makes his teammates better than having the player who seems has everything thanks to his team. No hating. Just saying.

rose shouldn’t make the team don’t play defense all that well.. and hold on the ball too much..reverse lay up and touch foul he lives of won’t be called..there for paul, bryant,durant, james,howard.. and then williams wade, anthony,griffin, chandler, ..westbrook and love are for energy..maybe gay, igoudola, or smith..can sneak into it not rose hes one man show he is wack version of allen iverson that what i think of him..he good player but shouldn’t represent our country..don’t say mvp nonsense bcuz he team was the beat team in the season without him

you are hating lebron plaed with bosh wade that is a great team he still has no respect unless he wins 8 rings he promised they got help from the refs to beat okc.. just saying i’m hating lebron is a stat hore..numbers lie..triple double..machine no.. he misses like half his free throws he is no comparsion to any great kobe is playing legend cut the nonsesne..compared lebron to melo or wade (who is better than james)

Those kind of matches are too easy a challnge for USA quite unfair give the size of usa as nation!

i would like to see a game between usa a select world team:

will add rose, griffin, wade and howard to the team as replacements of davis ingoudala, chandler and hartsen.

Then play again a selct european and latin american players:Gasol brothers, Nowitsky, Scola, Kirilenko-under the basket uniqgue combination of skills, power , height and experience-would be hard for the americans to face with howard, love durant and lebron.

Also there will e rubio ,parker, spanoulis and diamantides(best european defenders and guards) along with batum ginobili and Deng!

lets see this game and see if they can beat them 30 points -i bet it will be the opposite and usa will lose by 30 points as all those playes i mentioned play Defense and all all star level players that have it all!

That makes a lot of sense. Take away some of our best players and add all the best of the world. Sorry US still wins because that was the scenario at the Worlds. Remember? We won with Team B by a large margin. Keep Dreaming!

Do you really think any combination of players in the world would be the favorite to beat a team consisting of the following? USA basketball is just as dominate as the media leads you to believe they are for good reason.

WOW….STEFANOS…You foreign guys always get on here and bemoan the fact that the US has a bigger population and blah,blah,blah…Look, a small percentage play Bball in comparison to the total population…it’s just that the athletes are PHENOMENAL…all those countries you just mentioned routinely kicks the US butts in soccer or FUTBOL as you call it…You never hear us crying about that…there’s a greater percentage of those countries population who play FUTBOL in comparison to their overall population than the US Bball players in comparison to the total US population….I think it’s great that those guys in foreign countries can give Bball a try…can you imagine a 6’6″ guy like Manu Ginobli playing SOCCER, or a 7 ft guy like Dirk playing TENNIS?…just by the US opening up and showing the world the NBA brand of basketball, gives the taller guys other outlets than just FUTBOL and a chance to gauge their skills against THE BEST…..Somewhere out there, there is a LeBron in the outer provinces of China….or a Durant deep in the outback of Australia or another Dirk-like phenom will be inspired to give Bball a shot.

So why is Kobe considered maybe top ten when the debate his whole career is if he’s better than Jordan? I understand if people don’t think he is better than MJ but if there is even a debate about this doesn’t that make him the 2nd or maybe 3rd best player ever? Why is so hard for people to give this man his due? He is already top 5 all time scoring, he could have had the scoring title last yr if he deemed it necessary (all he needed was 38 pts against the Kings and he opted to sit out) its a shame people won’t appreciate him until he’s gone… well atleast us Lakers fans know how good he’s been… we’ve watched almost every game of his career and its been a joy to do so.

@ Wilt the Stilt I agree. I never been a Kobe or Laker fan but have to give Kobe his props. If he is compared to MJ the greatest of all time how can he not be rated as top 5 all time. Great game from Lebron as well Triple Double in the olympic’s is a great thing. USA USA USA!!!!!!!!!!

here is the problem. michael jordon publicly said that the only player that can be compared to him is kobe, that like automatically makes him number 2, at least. heat fans are annoying, backing up lebron and just wishing lebron was number 1 and kobe nuber 1,000,000, when in reality, its the other way around.

Common dwight stop them from guessing. We all know that you will be headed with Miami in exchange to haslem,anthony and future round picks. you want to get a ring right? you need to play with the king “LeBron”

Or reality, for that matter…..Dwight in Miami would do nothing but cost a lot of money…clog the lanes for slashers….cause Bron and Wade to try to be jumpshooters since they know they’ll get the boards…..then make MIA the most hated franchise of all-time….stop wishing for things that WONT result in a ring.

At first I was annoyed by your persisent love for Lebron and the Heat on literally every post. For some reason, I now find it funny and almost enjoy looking for your comment about how Lebron is either the greatest player ever, or Howard is going to go to the Heat.

Common dwight stop them from guessing. We all know that you will be headed with Miami in exchange to haslem,anthony and future round picks. you want to get a ring right? you need to play with the king “LeBron” and I did a cheat code to get infinite salary cap and no trade rules for you.

Great game team USA, hope to have watch a good but clean game with Argentina. Team USA like always will be the odds on favorite to win, but you can never count Argentina out since they have Ginobili who may be not enough but really gives them a chance provided sufficient help comes from his teammates. All they need to do is try to keep it close and hope Ginobili can work his magic in the last few plays to steal it. Although I remain it’s highly improbable but not impossible.

Kobe is a legend, but he still not in my all time top 10 list, maybe he will until he retire. I would say top 20 now. And I am not saying in a bad way, top 50 of all time for me are all legends of the game and I put him top 20 which is high. Good luck USA

So you are telling me that you are able to come up with over 30 players in NBA history that have a minimum of: 5 championships, 13+ allstar appearances, slam dunk champion, mvp, allstar mvps, 2 finals mvps, scoring title, 81pts in a game, etc. etc..? I dont believe you can. Those players you named were fantastic, but only a handful on your list has accomplished all that kobe has.

kobe bryant, lebron james, and my boy d wade aer the best three players in the nba right now. as for ever mike jordan, was the best player of all times but magic johnson is the best all around player to ever play the game.

If anyone was going to do this, it was gonna be Lebron. He’s the most complete player to play in an Olympic game since Magic I believe. Unless people wanna count Pippin in that mix too, to me Lebron is just the best player on the whole planet right now, and no matter what, Jordan didn’t do it, Scottie didn’t do it, not even Jason Kidd, who was a big time tripple double machine earlier in his career, did it. So to me, not only does it show the level of unselfishness, but it also shows a new level of greatness. It is just nice to finally see Lebron getting back to playing for the love of the game, not because we’re all waiting for the next big mistake

Yeah mate. You know what the difference between an Aussie and an American (yank) is? The difference is, an Aussie would lay an egg, and then eat it, if it was gonna bring him victory. That’s how Aussies are. We are like a chicken that has gone wild and is running through the bush with a mohawk and a smile; while its ears bleed. Only a true blue battler would understand what I’m saying, but that’s okay. Go on you American brothers, just remember a crazy Aussie that just makes things up as he goes along is one day going to be president.

Yeah “Mate” We definitley know the difference between an American (yank) and an Aussie…We’re WINNING! Sorry hater better luck next year, and we already have girls gone wild with mohawk bushes and smiles (which is the equivilant to your chicken – you know true yanks would know what I’m sayin)…and we like our eggs over easy, which it was for Kobe to destroy yall in all but 10 min…LBJ for president, this guy breaks more records than Aussie DJs…

Well! I’ve NEVER been a huge fan of Magic Johnson…but it seems to me he one a title playing all five spots…he even jumped center! Of course, had Kareem not sprained his ankle…it would have been him…NOT Magic…that got the MVP in that series against Philly 😉

BTW, MJ and KOBE have been doing for years what queen james is just now getting around to…and they never had his size! You put 275 lbs of muscle on those two…and lbj would even be in the conversation

Bron still cant play off the ball, he has to be running the point to make stuff happen. His post game is also not 100%, he’s good but Melo is a better all around player. Well Melo is just a little Lazy! lol

Magic had one (1) game in which it is said he replaced an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, HE DID NOT PLAY THE CENTER POSITION, THEY SIMPLY REDIRECTED THE OFFENSE WHEREBY IT FLOWED THROUGH MAGIC INSTEAD OF THE INJURED JABBAR. Magic rarely if ever defended any position other than point. When he posted up he took his man down low with him. Magic has never gotten in there with Karl Malone, Barkley, Duncan etc. No body alive can point to a single game where Magic lined up against the opposing team’s best player, even if that best player was also a point. We have witnessed epic battles involving Lebron – D. Rose, Kobe, D. Howard, Melo and others with Lebron coming out on top.
Magic was a great player, someone I once considered the best, and most deserving of all the accolades bestowed on him; but Magic clearly falls short when skills, speed, power, durability, and athleticism are compared.
People who want to make Magic an all around player cannot make their case based upon one (1) game.

For me,
Greatest to play a sport??? Hmm i dont think that person exist. Every player is just good to watch.
For me,
Maybe, Michael Jordan is the smartest player ever to play basketball.
But Kobe Bryant make basketball looks beautiful. His moves are just amazing.

Lebron James is still young, have power and use it to play in evey position. But he is good to watch too.

lebron is the best all around, kd, melo and kobe are better natural scorers.
lebron can play the 1-4, once he plays real big man he cant play the 4 or 5, that might fly on european centres but in the NBA he is not guarding any centres. its like KG playing point.. sure you can put him there but lets be honest he is no chris paul.. Magic was as nice as lebron if not better all around. (you might be to young to know that)

DID he defend the center position (since he is now retired) and the answer is yes. He did. No matter how incredibly talented LeBron James is (don’t hate, I support the Lakers and the Bulls) he is not the best all-time at anything quite yet.

Is guarding the center position all that ur referencing for James being the best? Cuz u posted the same stupid comment twice (thank God it finally was not about that retarded Dwight Howard trade u keep posting), and both times u responded with “does he guard the center position?”

Dude…u do realize guarding the center in today’s NBA is not that difficult right? There are 2 u need to worry about, Dwight and Bynum, and James cant guard either. Ur simply impressed cuz uve seen James guard the likes of Joakim Noah and Tyson Chandler.

In other words, it doesnt really matter that he can guard all centers in the NBA except Bynum and Dwight, and the reason is bcuz none of the other centers have any offensive game to guard, period. You sir have just been schooled…again. Come back tomorrow for more, everyone in this forum knows u will (and yes, it’ll proly be with that same stupid Dwight Howard proposal u moron).

@ Lbj 1.2 Version
Are you old enough to remember that the experienced Magic lost the finals to the younger more athletic Jordan?
Did the 2012 mature LeBron James (the improved version of the 2011 immature) lost the finals to the deeper, younger, and more athletic Thunder?????
Who put durant in foul trouble in games 2 and 3 in 2012 finals?????
Who completely changed his style of playing in the finals than to the East finals and semi finals????
It was not my uncle, was it? As far as I know it was LeBron.

dont forget magic won his first championship his rookie year, took the rookie of the year, won finals mvp and brought home the trophy to l.a, PLAYING CENTER due to an injured kareem abdul jabbar lol step you rknowledge up!